Super Soil: Learning from Nature to Restore the Earth

Check out this video about reclaiming water, nutrients and energy from “waste” that explores my encounter with a wise man in South India who opens my eyes to a new way of seeing the world. When he looks at the natural environment he not only sees unspoken beauty, he also notices untapped potential in the form of water, nutrients and energy.

I’ve submitted the video to USF’s “Reclaim is” challenge in hopes of winning the competition and cash prize.

My friend and I are starting a bank account to save money that we will use to invest in future projects dealing with sustainable cities, urban regeneration and anything else we believe to be a worthy cause for improving the quality of life on Earth.

If you want to help click here to vote. Select video contest, then scroll down the page and VOTE for the video titled = Reclaim is: Doing More with Less by Victor Florez.

The Forested Desert:The climate and topography of this place is undoubtedly that of a desert. For 40+ years the people have been building up the soil to transform it into a forest.

Brief Overview

Unlike composting, this method of creating nutrient-rich topsoil does not require waiting time for you to begin planting. With the nature-inspired leaf-soil-charcoal “lasagna”, you merely toss the seeds around in order to grow trees and other wild plants. For domesticated plants, such as tomatoes, you simply add a small handful of black soil in the area you put the seed in. After a couple of months, the entire mixture is also soil-like and provides ideal conditions for fruits and vegetables to prosper.

Currently, humans disrupt the natural equilibrium of nutrients, energy and water on Earth. If our species wants to be truly sustainable – if we want to live in a way that can theoretically endure into the indefinite future – then we must use available resources in a much more responsible and wise manner. As mentioned in the video, this method of restoring the soil on earth is purely an imitation of natural processes. The objective is to leverage the wonders of nature and use resources at a slower or equal rate to its natural replenishment.

Essentially, this method creates topsoil the way that nature creates it when we do not interfere: layers of leaves, soil and other plant & animal organic material mixed together. The only difference is that we can control the concentration and location of these materials in order to create a thriving garden in a minimal amount of time. This represents core principles of permaculture, reclamation and natural living: doing more with less.